Notable Deaths Of 2012

Robert Hegyes, the actor best known for playing Jewish Puerto Rican student Juan Epstein on the 1970s TV show “Welcome Back Kotter” (with John Travolta, pictured), died of cardiac arrest on Jan. 26. He was 60.

Etta James

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Singer Etta James died from complications from leukemia on Jan. 20. She was 73.

Bill Janklow

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Bill Janklow, a flamboyant politician who left a lasting mark on South Dakota politics by serving four terms as governor but resigned as the state’s congressman after causing a fatal traffic accident, has died. He was 72.

Bob Anderson

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Bob Anderson, an Olympic fencer for the United Kingdom, died Jan. 2 at age 89. He was a renowned film fight choreographer who worked on, among other films, the original “Star Wars” trilogy.

Mike Colalillo

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Mike Colalillo, the last Medal of Honor recipient in Minnesota, died at age 86. Colalillo received the nation’s highest military honor for bravery in combat for killing or wounding 25 Germans and helping a seriously wounded comrade to safety during a fierce firefight near Untergriesheim, Germany, on April 7, 1945, toward the end of World War II.

Joe Paterno

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Whitney Houston

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Gary Carter

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Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, whose single for the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series touched off one of the most improbable rallies in baseball, died Feb. 16. He was 57.

Ben Gazzara

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Actor Ben Gazzara died in Manhattan from pancreatic cancer on Feb. 3, 2012. He was 81.

Don Cornelius

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Soul Train creator Don Cornelius was found dead in his Sherman Oaks home on Feb. 1, 2012. He was 75.

Sarah Burke

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Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke died Jan. 19, nine days after crashing at the bottom of the superpipe during a training run in Utah. She was 29.

Sherman Hemsley

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Sherman Hemsley, best known for his role as George Jefferson in the 70′s sitcom “The Jeffersons” died July 24. He was 74.

Sally Ride

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NASA astronaut Sally K. Ride, the Space Shuttle Challenger crew member, poses in January 1983 in Johnson Space Center, Houston. Ride, the first American woman in space, died from pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012. She was 61.

Andy Griffith

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Actor Andy Griffith died on July 3, 2012. He was 86.

Nora Ephron

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Nora Ephron, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker and director behind such hits as “When Harry Met Sally” and “Sleepless in Seattle,” died June 26. She was 71.

LeRoy Neiman

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Artist LeRoy Nieman (credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for USOC)
Artist LeRoy Nieman signs autographs at the 100 Days to Vancouver Celebration on November 4, 2009 at the Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Donna Summer

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Disco queen Donna Summer, whose pulsing anthems such as “Last Dance,” “Love to Love You Baby” and “Bad Girls” became the soundtrack for a glittery age of sex, drugs, dance and flashy clothes, died May 17. She was 63.

Mary Kennedy

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The body of Mary Kennedy, 52, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was discovered in her Mount Kisco home on May 16, and suicide is believed to be the cause of death.

Maurice Sendak

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Maurice Sendak, the children’s book author and illustrator of “Where the Wild Things Are” and “In the Night Kitchen,” died on Tuesday, May 8, 2012. He was 83.

Thomas Kinkade

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Artist Thomas Kinkade, (pictured, right) whose brushwork paintings of idyllic landscapes, cottages and churches have been big sellers for dealers across the United States, died April 6 at age 54.

Mike Wallace

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Legendary CBS Newsman Mike Wallace, who won his 21st and final Emmy Award at 89, died April 7 in the New Canaan, Conn., care facility where he had lived the last few years of his life. He was 93.

Andrew Breitbart

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Conservative media publisher Andrew Breitbart, who was behind investigations that led to the resignations of former Rep. Anthony Weiner and former U.S. Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod, died in Los Angeles on March 1, 2012. He was 43.

Davy Jones

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Davy Jones, lead singer of The Monkees, died on February 29, 2012. He was 66.